Olympic gold medalist Katie Weatherston says it was ‘unfair’ of Hockey Canada to tell her she only had $4,000 available to cover medical costs from ongoing head trauma she suffered while playing for Team Canada.
She is now speaking out publicly and questioning Hockey Canada’s priorities in light of recent reports that the organization has paid out millions of dollars in settlements over allegations of sexual abuse.
“It was a slap in the face at the time, when I was told they only had $4,000 to give me,” Weatherston told CBC News.
“And now it’s absolutely shocking what’s come out and they didn’t have money for me, but they have money for this… It’s not fair. I don’t want that this happens to other young female athletes.”
Hockey Canada has come under public scrutiny in recent weeks over its use of its National Equity Fund – made up in part of player registration fees – to settle a 3,000 lawsuit. $5 million. A woman has allegedly been sexually assaulted by eight hockey players in 2018, including members of the men’s World Juniors team.
Hockey Canada later told a parliamentary committee it withdrew an additional $7.6 million to pay nine sexual assault plaintiffs since 1989.
The organization has since defended the National Equity Fund, arguing that it is used “to support anyone who may have been harmed or injured where insurance policies were insufficient”.
Weatherston said she couldn’t understand why that fund was not being used to pay for her treatment.
In a media statement, Hockey Canada told CBC News that the “safety of our athletes” is its “highest priority” and that the organization has various insurance policies or self-insured funds “that may be available. for injured players to the team sanctioned by Team Canada. events.
The organization said it also has a Health Benefits Trust that covers certain otherwise uninsured medical and dental expenses up to a maximum of $5,000.
Weatherston said that wasn’t enough.
“The medical care I need costs around $30,000 to $40,000 a year,” she said. “I can’t afford to pay so much for my medical bills, so I’m not getting the care I need.”
Weatherston said that for the past 16 years she has struggled with daily headaches, chronic exhaustion and her ears feeling popping like she was on a plane with a cold.
She said she pays about $15,000 a year out of pocket for medical care, including physical therapy, chiropractor appointments and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Weatherston said she also uses acupuncture, cupping and massage to cut costs.
Her injuries began in 2005 when she flew over the handlebars during a bike race with her team and landed on the pavement, knocking out three teeth, according to a Hockey Canada injury report seen by CBC News.
Then, in September 2006, she was hit from behind during an inter-squad match at Team Canada’s training camp. Weatherston says his head hit the boards.
A Hockey Canada doctor cleared her during the game to return to the ice, Weatherston said.
Later in the same game, Weatherston collided with a teammate and hit heads with another during a face-off. A few days later, she said, she got found in the emergency room of a hospital with nausea and pain in the neck and at the top of the spine.
“My head didn’t even touch the ice”
After some time off the ice, Weatherson said, his career came to an abrupt end in 2008 after he fell in a pick-up game in Ottawa.
“My head didn’t even hit the ice,” she said. “I felt my brain racing back and forth inside my skull and I just knew I was in trouble.”
A Hockey Canada injury report by an Ottawa physician dated October 2012 indicated that following multiple concussions in 2005, 2006, and 2008, Weatherston had been left with prolonged post-concussive syndrome that was “possibly permanent.”
Weatherston said she did not sue or file an insurance claim with Hockey Canada at the time, as she still hoped to recover and return to the Olympics.
“I was 25,” she said. “I thought I would definitely get back into the game.
“You don’t want to play Hockey Canada. You don’t want to be blacklisted.
Personal injury lawyer Brian Cameron reviewed Weatherston’s paperwork and said that while her situation is “certainly unfair and…certainly unfair”, she waited too long to file a lawsuit and has now passed the deadline for prescription.
“The reality is that if she had continued in time, Hockey Canada would be insured,” Cameron said. “She’s waited too long and now she’s in a situation where it looks like she’s going to have these issues in her lifetime.
“And she doesn’t really, as far as I know, have any legal recourse against Hockey Canada.”
Weatherston sought a legal opinion in 2013 which concluded that his claim could be “barred unless a court could find that there had been a fraudulent concealment by Hockey Canada of its knowledge of the concussions.”
Emails seen by CBC News show that it wasn’t until 2012 that Weatherston contacted Hockey Canada to help pay his medical bills.
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According to one of those emails, Hockey Canada’s now retired head of risk management, Glen McCurdie, told Weatherston that there was an accidental death and dismemberment policy that had a “component of traumatic brain injury”, but added that it was “relatively new”. and he didn’t think she would qualify.
Weatherston said in an email to Hockey Canada that she suffered a “chronic and potentially life-threatening injury.
“Is there anything else Hockey Canada can do to support its athletes?
A “punch in the stomach”
Todd Jackson, Hockey Canada’s then-senior director of insurance, responded to Weatherston in June 2014, saying the organization had already paid Weatherston $6,000 for the bicycle accident during practice. He offered her an additional $4,000 to help pay for her ongoing medical expenses.
“Unfortunately the $4,000 is all I have to work with. Sorry,” Jackson wrote in an email to Weatherston.
Attempts by CBC News to reach Jackson and McCurdie through Hockey Canada for comment were unsuccessful.
Weatherston said it was an “extra punch in the gut” to see the Hockey Canada scandal unfold since May.
“They closed the book on me,” Weatherston said. “I had a great experience with Hockey Canada, some of the best memories of my life. But I also had a terrible experience because I felt like they had thrown me to the wayside.
“I would definitely return my gold medal in a heartbeat for my health.”
Hockey Canada officials have revealed the organization has paid nearly $9 million in settlements since 1989 to 21 people alleging sexual misconduct.
His partner Alexandra Pinfold is a registered nurse. She said she didn’t understand Hockey Canada’s priorities.
“Why should she suffer when they had the ability to help?” said Pinfold. “It’s not OK. It’s an injustice to women in athletics, really.”
Weatherston’s mother, Anna Weatherston, said she now wonders “if it was a good idea to put her in hockey”.
CBC News asked Hockey Canada why it didn’t use the National Equity Fund to help Weatherston with his ongoing medical bills.
The organization said that “out of respect for privacy and confidentiality, it would be inappropriate … to discuss an individual’s specific case through the media”.
“We are sorry to hear that Ms. Weatherston is concerned about her past injuries,” Hockey Canada said in a statement to CBC News. “Should there be any new information about his medical case, we encourage him — as we would any Hockey Canada member — to contact us.
Hockey Canada said her insurer “will make all decisions” about her entitlement to coverage.
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